MBTA Deer Crash Rumor Sparks Parody Twitter Account

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY VERONIQUE MARTINACHE
A stuffed caribou which bells, part of its seduction ritual, is on display at the Palais de la Decouverte (scientific museum) in Paris on October 23, 2012 as part of the exhibition "Betes de sexe" (Sexual beasts) dedicated to the sexual life of animals. The event runs from October 23 to August 25, 2013. (Photo credit should read FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP PHOTO FRANCOIS GUILLOT

Adding to an already rough day for the MBTA and its passengers, a transmission problem at the Kendall Square T stop in Cambridge caused a massive power outage in the city that affected over 17,000 people, according to NStar. However, Twitter had a completely different side of the story.

A rumor started soon after the incident that the MBTA train hit a deer inside the tunnel at the Kendall Square station, and that was what caused the power outage. But officials on the scene couldn’t confirm that a deer was involved at all.

“We spoke to someone from the Red Line and no one said anything about a deer,” Cambridge police spokesman Dan Riviello told Wicked Local.

An MBTA spokesman didn’t take the rumors so seriously, saying “The Red Line is underground in Kendall Square.”

Translation: “Come on, use some common sense, people!”

Yes, the very idea of a deer even finding a way into the underground tunnel at Kendall Square is ridiculous, but it didn’t stop Twitter from whipping itself into a temporary frenzy. And of course, a parody Twitter account @MBTADeer popped up within hours and gained 200+ followers, eclipsing the following of the Brookline Bear Twitter account.

One of the earliest tweets about the deer rumor names WBZ as the reporters of the incident, though that quickly got shot down.

Deer or not, the power outage occurred mere hours after two trains collided with each other at the Boylston Green Line stop, adding up to a terrible afternoon for the MBTA. Let’s just hope T drivers aren’t actively trying to ruin the holidays for us by killing Santa’s reindeer.